DAY 1

Our first day on the road of course coincided with the first busy day of the season for me....saw that one coming like a freight train......luckily, Jennie was there to take off some of the heat......reluctantly, I left my office with my laptop, files, notepads (3 of them) and my handy notebook that Jennie forced me to make for myself and now, I don't know how I lived without it.
Packing for this trip was so very simple....we each took a clothes basket and flung clothes into it. i chuckled to myself that another beautiful thing about "camping" was taking our world with us and no TSA people going through my clothes or tossing out my recently purchased toiletries because the label said there was more than 3 ounces in it. Don't get me wrong--I understand they have an important job to do but let's use some common sense....I won't be hurting anyone with my hair gel.
We kissed Cameron good-bye and threatened his life with the list of rules.....he claimed he can handle it all....I pray I trained him right.
Off we went with puppies in tow.....leaving behind the two big girls for this maiden voyage......it was just going to be too much the first time out.
I inched down the drive and our road at about 5 MPH.....I managed 15 MPH as we passed the grocery store....and then my first asshole of the day--he cuts in front of me just as I try to make it to 20 he shoots out of the drug store in front of me. Bert and Chloe nearly went through the front window as I slammed on the brakes.
I crawled along, desperately checking my mirrors to be sure that I had the beast lined up right between the yellow and white lines....so worried that I'd either drive it into a ditch or hit an oncoming car. I vowed I would never pass a car or make it past 60....MPH that is.
By the time I got on the highway I was feeling a bit calmer......I had found that the shadows formed by the window defogging fans, lined up perfectly between the lines on the highway and kept me where I needed to be...then the sun went away. I freaked for a few moments but realized I finally knew what i was doing without the shadows guiding me.
Bert had to learn to walk around in the camperwhile I drove....he obviously never did bus surfing as a kid. He had decided he wanted to get Sirius satellite set up as we drove but needed to find the VIN number for them.....as he was reaching up into the cabinet, a huge orange truck nearly ran me off the road and Bert went flying. (Memo to self---ice packs in freezer...)
Our first destination was Maryland.....Bert had made a folder with our intinerary provided to us by Good Sam which is the RV club/insurance company that many campers use.....and we had our GPS on the cell phone..thankfully.
We were an hour away and still had not stopped for food...Bert refused to make it back to the fridge after being tossed onto the couch earlier. The itinerary said go east on 40......then 3.8 miles. After at least 5 miles, and the chick on the GPS yelling "make a legal U-turn at the next safest place" over and over--I pulled off....into a residential area. I was sure we were screwed thinking how was I going to turn this rig around?? But something made me turn right and we landed in an abandoned restaurant parking lot at the end of the road and I managed to find my way back on the road...going west.....
It was so very dark when we arrived and I happily ran into the office for our site assigment...only to be greated by a giant cut out of Obama smiling at me with his hand outstretched to shake mine--I screamed....they looked at me funny so I kept my Obama-hating mouth shut for once.
The directions to the site seemed simple enough and we headed to our loop. Twice we went around the loop. No 713 to be found. On the third go around, I stopped where it said 604 but on my goddamn map it said it should be 713....."excuse me sir" I said to the man in the next site. "I am trying to find 713." "Well this is 604 here" he replied pointing at the obvious. "Yes, but my map here says it should be 713" as I held it in front of the right headlight. "Well, I'll be damned--it does say that. But it's 604." Thankfully, a woman appears in the dark and says "This is 713. If you come in the other way, it will be 713 and this side is 604." I said, "What? On reverse day?" And my new friend, the man, replies "Oh, is it reverse day?"--dead serious.
But the beauty of this insane site was I would have to go around-again-and then back up and then pull forward--in order to be able to hook up the electric and the poop dumping hose.....
and so, I did. I thanked my father over and over for making me a pro at backing up in tight situations by lining up the wheels on the edge of the pavment, while I hung out the window listening to this man yell directions to me.
As soon as they yelled "YOUR IN-PERFECT!!!" I put on the parking brake and headed for the fridge and my perfectly chilled wine....and thank god for screw caps because I had no further patience left on this day.